Living a lie
by Aafje98
Summary: "Promise my you will stay by my side." "I promise. For as long as I live, I will protect you for you are the princess." Dunya joined Al Thamen but what happened in the years she was with them.


**While on this site I noticed one of my favorite characters has no fanfics at all. I'm talking about Dunya. Since my magi OC is her twin sister I couldn't let it be. So here I am with a Dunya centered fanfic. I hope it isn't bad. It's hard to write things about such a side character. But I don't want her only fanfic to be a bad one.**

* * *

"Promise me you will stay by my side."

"I promise. For as long as I live, I will protect you for you are the princess."

...

Lies. It was all nothing but lies. I will stay by your side? What kind of thing was that? It had been a lie. She had been living a lie the whole time. _"You are the princess and I will protect you." _What kind of vow had that been? It had only resulted in things she'd rather forget. But she could not forget the sight. The body of her knight, her only friend, getting stabbed multiple times while she watched. It was horrible. _"I will protect you." _Sure, he had done that, but what of her had he protected? After his death the people came for her.

"This is your fate."

What was fate? The thing that had been laid out for you the moment you were born? If that was fate, then this all was unfair. Isaac didn't have to die if it wasn't for fate. Her father wouldn't be dead and she… She wouldn't be crying while being pushed on the cold ground. The faces of the men that wanted to kill her, stared at her helpless, little body.

"The royal family must be killed."

It was nothing but unfair. Exactly. It was unfair. This whole fate, it was wrong. If fate meant getting killed, then she'd curse that fate. It was all she could do anyways. She wouldn't die. She wouldn't let Isaac's death go to waste. She'd protect herself from now on. She protected herself from fate as her rukh slowly coloured black.

...

"Don't you look wonderful, little girl."

The stranger looked at her. Underneath his turban and mask, long locks of dark green hair fell down. She was 16 years old and lived on her own for three years now. She hadn't forgotten the promise she'd made to herself. Whatever happened she wouldn't get mislaid by fate again. She had cursed it. Cursed the way Isaac had died and the way she had been forced out of her own country. With a deathly glare she looked up at the person that talked to her.

"What is it you want?" She asked him.

"I want you. Your rukh, it speaks to me." The stranger answered her.

Her rukh? She had heard the palace's magicians talk about it once. The rukh were the things that give a person their life. The shining white birds that became a flow when united. That was what she knew of rukh. But it was just some rambling the magicians did.

"How does it speak to you?" She said. If she could, she would say goodbye to the man and continue her journey, but she just wasn't allowed to do that.

"It's color is shining black. It is the color our dear father loves the most."

"Our father?" The more the man talked the less she understood him.

"Yes. Our father, the rightful God of this world. He wants people like you and me to unite. To give him his place back. To throw away God and replace him. To destroy fate is what he wants."

"Destroy fate…." She repeated in a whisper. Wasn't' that what she had done all those years. For the first time in those three years, she had found an ally.

"How do you want to destroy fate?"

"Did it grab you attention, little girl? If you join our organization you can get all power you want. With it you can destroy and create things. Anything you'd like."

Anything she'd like. That would mean she could get her country back. The country that had been stolen from her by those lowlife magicians.

"Then what about my country. Can I get my country back?"

"Of course you can, little girl, we can give you anything you want."

She nodded her head. Whoever this God could be and whatever it was he wanted to do, she'd follow him. She'd throw over fate and take back her country.

"Show me the way to your people." She said holding out her hand to the man.

"I will, little girl."

"I'm no little girl. I am the princess of the Musta'sim kingdom. Dunya Musta'sim."

"Ithnan." The man said.

...

"Dunya." Ithnan winked at her. "Come look at this."

Dunya, now 19 years old, walked to the man that had helped her in her life a lot. Three years she had been part of the organization that changed her life. Though first she felt out of place, she soon noticed all people were much like her. All of them were against the fate they were born with. They had all cursed their original flow and walked the road of _'our father'_.

"What is it, Ithnan?" She asked when she stood next to him.

"Look at this." Ithnan pointed at a short black staff lying on a cushion.

"It's beautiful." She said. "But what is it? I don't think you'd just make an accessory for no purpose."

"Dunya, this is no accessory. It is a dark metal vessel. I guess you have heard of Djinn, the creatures sleeping deep inside the dungeons. These vessels harbor one of those Djinn. But they are artificial, dark and more powerful than any other Djinn. It is a gift from our father. He wants us to use this power to save this world from fate."

"That sounds amazing." Dunya answered. Her mind was barely at the topic. The magical Djinn, they sounded amazing. When crossing the lands, she had heard tales of dungeon conquerors like Sinbad and the princes of the Kou empire. A Djinn meant power and power meant getting back what was originally hers.

"We have made multiple of these dark metal vessels and gave them to some of the people within our organization. This one is yours."

"What?" For a moment she thought she had heard him wrong. This dark metal vessel was hers to keep? "Ithnan, are you sure? There are many more people in this organization. Why choose me?"

"Because, Dunya, many people here are unable to use this dark metal vessel. We have quite some magicians in this group and it's not possible for them to use a Djinn even if it's an artificial one. Of all our non-magician members, we choose a small group for these dark metal vessels. And I can congratulate you for being chosen. Come and take your dark metal vessel, claim Al-Quas."

She hesitated for a moment, but then she took the small staff. A small shock went through her arm as she touched it. But she did not withdraw her hand. She took the metal vessel and looked at it up close. It was perfect. It was everything a princess like her needed.

"Al-Quas, huh." She mumbled.

"You should practice with it before you do reckless things. The other chosen ones are doing the same thing. You should find its strength by yourself, Dunya." Ithnan said to her before he disappeared to some unknown place.

...

"I did it!" She exclaimed as she turned the sand into small puppets. It had took a few months, but she had finally gotten the hang of it. A few days after she had been given her dark metal vessel she could let small electrical currents flow through the air. Ithnan had told her that wasn't her true power so she practiced even more. After two weeks she could manipulate small bits of sand, but it fell apart pretty quick.

"Ithan look at this." She tried to get the attention of the magician. He looked at her from the corner of this eyes. A small grin came to his face.

"Good job Dunya. But is that all you can do?" Sometimes his comments annoyed her. She was proud of what she had achieved and he was telling her it wasn't good enough?

"What do you mean Ithnan? Isn't it good?"

"No, no, it's good. But you are not using it in its full potential. Think bigger than small puppets." He said. He grabbed his staff and pointed it towards the heaps of sand Dunya had been practicing with. After he spoke some words the sand began to move and a male figure was created from the sand.

"If you use it like this, you can create your own guard." He released his magic and the sand fell down in a formless heap.

Her own guard? Didn't she already have one. Isaac had told her he was her knight. He would protect her till the end. But Isaac was no longer around. But with what Ithnan had said, that could change. She clenched Al-Quas thight. She would try. If it was possible, then she'd try anything to do so.

...

"Alright! I did it." She dissolved her magic and the rocks she had been manipulating fell down with a loud thud. She was now in her twenties and she had gained full control of her dark metal vessel. She looked around and looked at her most precious creation. He was there. He still existed. He was no puppet, no doll made out of sand. He was Isaac and he was her knight. His dark blue armor made him the knight he was always meant to be. He stood there and watched her practice.

"What do you think, Ithnan?" She knew he was watching her too. Behind a pillar she could see the top of his staff. "It's powerful isn't it?"

Slowly Ithnan walked form behind the pillar. He clapped in his hands as he did so.

"My, my, that looked great, Dunya. You really did a great job mastering your dark metal vessel." He said. She could feel a warm glow inside her. It was the first time he had truly praised her. He had acknowledged her power.

"Then," she said, hesitating, "do you think we can take Musta'sim back with this? Do you think the organization will help me like this?"

Ithnan nodded. "I'm sure they will."

She smiled. She barely smiled anymore, but she was happy for once. Almost as happy when she had brought Isaac back from the dead. It wasn't enough to make her feel loved again, but it was nice. Once in a while being happy didn't hurt.

...

Ithnan looked at her from over his shoulder. "Are you ready, Dunya?" He asked. She slowly nodded. She didn't know if she was ready for sure. But she just had to do this. For the first time in the seven years she had been part of the organization, her power had been wanted by _'our father'_. And she wasn't alone. Isaac was with her. The other three dark metal vessel users were there too. Even though they wouldn't join her on her mission. They had their own things to attend to, but for now they were here too. And of course there was Ithnan. If she was glad about one person joining them, it would've been because of Ithnan. He knew her so well. He could help her with her power and tell exactly what to do. With him and with Isaac she would be unbeatable.

"Let's go, Ithnan, Isaac." She said. Slowly she walked out into the sunlight she hated so much.

"Yes, princess." Isaac answered her. Ithnan just followed. He was a quiet as always.

...

It had been a lie. He had never left her. She had only believed it had been like that. All she had done had been a lie. But it hadn't been a bad one. For the first time in ten years, she could escape the lie she had been living. As she realized this, she could feel her body feel lighter and soon she felt nothing at all. Her last soft whisper died away with the wind.

"_Thank you."_


End file.
